By Emma Bowen Meyer, For The Herald Bulletin
When not clattering about his haunted house, Mike Hoppe can be found cruising around town in his hearse. Although he purchased the hearse long before the house, the two complement each other perfectly.
“I’ve always had a fascination with horror films and station wagons,” he said with a laugh. “Since I was a kid, I always loved station wagons. My mom and dad used to take us to the drive-in and we’d get to lay in the back of the station wagon and watch the movie. I thought, ‘What’s the perfect combination of the two?’ A hearse.”
After searching online and in trader magazines, Hoppe found a funeral home in Lima, Ohio, anxious to sell their 1991 Buick Roadmaster.
“At first everybody was shocked,” he continued. “But after awhile people started to warm up to it and they really thought it was cool. People are always asking me questions about the hearse. They approach me even if I’m just going to the grocery store. They’ve almost always got something positive to say about it. It makes them smile or laugh.”
Even though Hoppe used to own vintage street rods and muscle cars, he reports receiving much more attention in the hearse than any other vehicle. And he has discovered many uses for the back, such as camping out and hauling materials.
“It’s good for picking up groceries or lumber. I’ve hauled everything except a body in the back of that thing.”
Tentatively tiptoeing up to a creepy house with furtive over-the-shoulder glances thrills the imagination of many people this time of year.
Mike Hoppe, however, is so enamored with those special scary touches that he designed his Frankton home to resemble a haunted house year-round.
Eerie feelings are stirred at the edge of the driveway as two large stone gargoyles on tall pillars stare down trespassers with an icy gaze. The winged monsters are impressive in size, shape, and detail of design.
Once past the stone
sentries, visitors must summon the courage to approach the brightly colored yet hair-raising home that conjures up images of “Psycho” or Scooby-Doo. The royal purple color accented by vivid orange may appear cheery if not for the shutters hanging askew and the distinctive tower that is reminiscent of every horror movie known to man.
That tower was added to the home by Hoppe after he purchased the dilapidated structure three-and-a-half years ago. While he has bought over 10 decrepit houses and refurbished them to resell, this one he intended to be his home.
“When I buy a property, I look at it like an art project,” he said. “It tells me what it wants to be.”
At 41, Hoppe has a free spirit lifestyle. He works the audio booth during services at First United Methodist Church in Anderson. A Madison Heights High School grad, he’s also lead singer for Pozeur, a 1980s hair metal tribute band.
Coffin, cat and cobwebs
When Hoppe bought the home, it was in such poor condition that he had to completely gut the building and take the walls down to the studs. Except for salvaging the original floors and the staircase, Hoppe altered almost every other aspect of the house, including moving the kitchen to a different room and building on the spooky tower.
“I like horror films,” he said simply. “When I was a little kid, my mother used to wake me up late at night if a monster movie came on TV. I’d climb out of bed and we’d watch it together.”
A coffin from one of former local TV host Sammy Terry’s late-night specials sits in the corner of the entryway to inform visitors that their creepy surprises aren’t over.
Atop the coffin stands a black cat ready to pounce and next to it lurks a red devil laughing with a tombstone at his feet. Counterfeit cobwebs grace the chandelier.
The bulk of the home is decorated in a traditional Victorian style, including thick curtains, floral wallpaper, and ornate area rugs. Extra touches add the spine-chilling flair, such as glass eyes on end tables, skulls as decorations, and an occasional bat in the bedroom.
Rather than settling for average chairs to surround the table in his media library, Hoppe chose to collect antique wheelchairs. Of course, the shelves are loaded with horror flicks, a Michael Myers mask, and figures from the movie “Scream.”
Building his canopy bed out of the original posts from the porch, Hoppe fastened thick orange tasseled curtains to hang over his black comforter. Orange leaves are wound around the top of the canopy.
Home’s fame follows him
Climbing the metal spiral staircase to the upper level of the tower, a visitor finds a small room with nothing but a claw foot bathtub. The windows look out over the large pond in the front of the home. The ceiling is missing so that the very top of the tower is visible — another eight feet straight up.
Hoppe is planning to paper that ceiling with black wallpaper dotted with tiny glow-in-the-dark stars to create the feeling of bathing al fresco under the stars.
Other artistic touches to the home include the intricate painting of the trim on the exterior of the home and the hand painting of designs on several of the floors.
Although Hoppe intended for this to be his long-term residence, as the work in progress nears completion, his creative nature is tugging him to seek a new project.
At the onset of the renovation, he had housemates that made the home the perfect size. Now that he lives alone, the four bedrooms are too spacious.
Hoppe is ambivalent about whether or not he will remain in his distinctive dwelling. Still wrapping up the finishing touches, he toys with the idea of putting it on the market. He is clearly proud of his creation and the way word has spread about it throughout the county.
“I go as far as Middletown and Pendleton and people ask me where I live,” Hoppe said. “I start to tell them about the big purple house in Frankton and they immediately know what I’m talking about.”
